River Avenue Blues

Yankees claim righty Jake Barrett off waivers from Pirates

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(Presswire)

According to Mark Feinsand, the Yankees have claimed righty reliever Jake Barrett off waivers from the Pirates. The Yankees have since announced Ben Heller has been moved to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot. Barrett is heading to Triple-A Scranton.

It has been a busy few weeks for Barrett. He went from the Diamondbacks to the Giants on waivers in February, the Giants to the Pirates on waivers in March, and now the Pirates to the Yankees on waivers in April. This is his final minor league option year. The Yankees can send him up and down as any times as they want in 2019.

Barrett, 27, was once an interesting relief prospect with Arizona. He threw 59.1 innings with a 3.49 ERA (4.14 FIP) and 22.4% strikeouts as a rookie in 2016. Barrett has been unable to build on that though, and he’s spent the last two years as a shuttle reliever with the D’Backs. He’ll likely do the same with the Yankees this year.

With all due respect, Barrett is a fairly generic mid-90s fastball/mid-80s slider guy with unspectacular spin rates and a sizeable platoon split. Ten years ago a guy like this would’ve been a high-leverage candidate. These days he’s a depth arm and a middle reliever candidate. Maybe the Yankees have a plan to help Barrett get more out of his stuff.

Heller (Tommy John surgery) joins Jordan Montgomery (Tommy John surgery) on the 60-day injured list. Didi Gregorius (Tommy John surgery) and likely Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery) remain as 60-day injured list candidates whenever the Yankees need another 40-man roster spot.

Game Seven: The First Road Trip

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(Rob Carr/Getty)

For the first time this season, the Yankees are out on the road. Three games in four days in Baltimore, then three games in three days in Houston. Maybe leaving Yankee Stadium will help get this team out of its funk. Then again, unless the road trip can heal injuries, probably not. The Yankees are really beat up right now.

“The Major League season is a gauntlet filled with adverse situations all the time. They come in many shapes and sizes throughout the year, even in the best of seasons,” said Aaron Boone to Ken Davidoff yesterday. “I’ll hang my hat on our group and know we’ll fight our way through this and get it rolling.”

While the injuries have taken a bite out of the lineup, the Yankees also aren’t getting much from the healthy players other than Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu. The other regulars have to get going, especially with guys like Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, and Aaron Hicks not around to pick up the slack. Here are today’s lineups:

New York Yankees
1. CF Brett Gardner
2. RF Aaron Judge
3. DH Luke Voit
4. C Gary Sanchez
5. 1B Greg Bird
6. 3B DJ LeMahieu
7. SS Gleyber Torres
8. LF Clint Frazier
9. 2B Tyler Wade

LHP James Paxton

Baltimore Orioles
1. 2B Jonathan Villar
2. LF Dwight Smith Jr.
3. RF Trey Mancini
4. DH Renato Nunez
5. 3B Rio Ruiz
6. CF Joey Rickard
7. 1B Chris Davis
8. C Jesus Sucre
9. SS Richie Martin

RHP Alex Cobb

It is cool and partly cloudy in Baltimore for the O’s home opener this afternoon. No rain in the forecast, thankfully. Today’s game will begin at 3:05pm ET and you can watch on the YES Network. Try to enjoy.

Roster Move: As expected, Troy Tulowitzki (calf) has been placed on the 10-day injured list. He’ll rest a few days then be reevaluated. “It’s unfortunate, but like I’ve shared with the guys, it’s never easy. Sometimes it makes your team a little bit better because it tests that depth,” Tulowitzki said to Bryan Hoch. Thairo Estrada has been called up to fill the roster spot. He’s wearing No. 30 and this is his first stint in the big leagues.

Injury Updates: Aaron Hicks (back) has started baseball activities. Hooray for that. Specifically, he has started playing catch, and will soon begin taking dry swings and hitting off a tee. Hicks has been shut down more than a month now, so he likely has several weeks of baseball activities and rehab games ahead of him … Jacoby Ellsbury (hip surgery) is still going through light baseball activities. “He’s doing some activity, running on the field, doing some stuff with tee and toss and stuff like that. He’s just had the little pullbacks here and there with the different things he’s dealing with,” Boone said to Hoch.

4/4 to 4/7 Series Preview: Baltimore Orioles

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Trey Mancini and Cedric Mullins. (Getty Images)

The Bronx turned into a house of horrors, so maybe Oriole Park at Camden Yards will treat the Yankees better. The Bombers enter Yankee Stadium south for a Thursday opener before Saturday night and Sunday matinee starts against the high-flying Birds.

Their Story So Far

Predicted to be easily the worst team in baseball this season, the Orioles have scrambled their way to four wins in six games. They put together a four-game winning streak starting with their second game in the Bronx and carrying through until Wednesday afternoon in Toronto. Now, the lackluster O’s carry a share of the AL East division lead into their home opener, trying to take another series from the Yankees.

Injury Report

Alex Cobb is back for the home opener, so that leaves just Mark Trumbo (knee, 60-day IL) and Austin Wynns (oblique, 10-day IL) as the only fallen Birds.

Pitching Matchups

Changing it up with the previews and going to the starters first. The Orioles haven’t announced starters for Saturday and Sunday yet, though Dylan Bundy will assuredly start and Andrew Cashner or David Hess should take the other game.

Cobb (Getty Images)

Thursday (3:05 PM ET): James Paxton (vs. Orioles) vs. Alex Cobb (vs. Yankees)

A late spring groin injury scratched Cobb from Opening Day honors, but the right-hander is back in time to face the Bombers at Camden Yards. His 2018 was disastrous in large part due to a late start. The former Rays starter missed almost all of Spring Training waiting in free agency and didn’t sign until March 21. He pitched to a 13.11 ERA in three April starts, setting the tone for an awful first half in which he went 2-12 with a 6.41 ERA.

Cobb, however, rebounded in a big way in the second half, looking like the changeup-heavy pitcher he was before. Before a blister issue limited him to two innings and four pitches in his final two starts, respectively, he pitched six innings and allowed two or fewer runs in six of seven outings, including two representative outings against the Yankees.

The 31-year-old relies upon his sinker and split-fingered changeup, mixing in a fair number of curves as well. Thanks to the changeup, he has historically had reverse splits and 2018 was no exception, something a healthy Yankees lineup could punish. His groin injury and this being his first start of the year, he’ll likely be limited in his pitch count.

Saturday (7:05 PM ET): J.A. Happ (vs. Orioles) vs. TBD

I’d expect Dylan Bundy to get the call in this start after Nate Karns as an opener started Wednesday. Bundy labored through 11 outs in his first start of the year, an Orioles win thanks to southpaw John Means’ strong relief. The right-hander, however, struggled with control by issuing five walks. He loaded the bases twice, getting out of it once while Means allowed his inherited runners to score in the other case. Still, Bundy fanned seven Yankees, including two punchouts of Aaron Judge.

Bundy is highly susceptible to the long ball, particularly with his home games at OPACY. Still, his normal strikeout and walk rates are passable and make him the most promising starter in the O’s rotation. Bundy, 26, had a 17.3 K-BB% last season and, outside of opening week this year, generally avoids free passes.

Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton accounted for three of the seven baserunners against Bundy on Sunday, so he’ll be facing a very different lineup this time around.

Sunday (1:05 PM ET) Domingo German (vs. Orioles) vs. TBD

You probably remember Cashner’s start on short rest from Opening Day, so I’ll give you the lowdown on David Hess, who allowed no hits over 6 1/3 innings against the Blue Jays in his first start. Of course, the Orioles bullpen couldn’t finish the no-hitter, blowing it two batters later.

Hess has faced the Yankees twice before, allowing home runs to Aaron Hicks and Luke Voit in an otherwise fine five-inning start last season. The other outing came on Opening Day, when he had two scoreless innings of relief.

The 25-year-old righty is generally allergic to groundballs, allowing a fair number of balls in the air. His pitches has jumped two mph from 2018 to 2019 in a small sample and he generally works with a 94-mph four-seamer and a low-80s slider. Here’s what the slider can look like:

Potential Lineup

The Yankees are trotting out two left-handed starters this series, so let’s project a lineup designed to face southpaws (Note: I’d post their statlines and wRC+, but we’re six games in):

  1. Jonathan Villar, 2B
  2. Dwight Smith Jr., LF
  3. Trey Mancini, RF
  4. Renato Nunez, DH
  5. Rio Ruiz, 3B
  6. Joey Rickard, CF
  7. Chris Davis, 1B
  8. Jesus Sucre, C
  9. Richie Martin, SS

Davis will likely sit against either Paxton or Happ with Rule 5 pick Drew Jackson shifting into the outfield and Mancini to first base. Sucre has gotten almost all the playing time behind the plate while center fielder Cedric Mullins, a lefty, should start on Sunday at least.

As Mike pointed out, this team has one player you’d expect to be above-average at the plate (Mancini). The veteran Villar could be a positive contributor and the rest are young, Rule 5 picks (Martin is the other) or downright bad.

Bullpen Status

New manager Brandon Hyde has been flexible in deploying his relievers at any point in the game, so he’ll likely have his best pitcher, Mychal Givens, in during the highest-leverage spot, or whenever Judge is due up. He hasn’t pitched since throwing 49 pitches (!) Sunday, so he should be fresh if that didn’t injure him.

With Wednesday’s opener game, Jimmy Yacabonis and former Yankee farmhand Matt Wotherspoon each tossed two innings while Richard Bleier got five outs on 14 pitches. That leaves Miguel Castro, Paul Fry and Means ready to go for the opener and, with Friday’s off-day, the rest of the bullpen should be fresh for the weekend.

Basically every pitcher gave the Yankees trouble last weekend, though Givens is certainly the pitcher with the best track record.

Questions for the Weekend

Can the Yankees finally catch a break?

This one is simple, but can the Yankees do what they’re supposed to do, win a series against a bad team and not lose another player in the process? And can someone other than Judge, LeMahieu and Ottavino step up?

Who looks like a keeper on the Orioles?

Fun idea to muse upon: Which of these O’s will be on the next good Baltimore team? Maybe Mancini and then who knows? I’m a sucker for a Rule 5 pick, so I want to see more and more of Martin and Jackson to see if one of them could be anything. They didn’t impress in the first series.

Yankeemetrics: Nightmare on River Ave. (April 1-3)

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(AP)

April 1: Three is justenough
Monday started out with the worst possible Not-April-Fools-Joke — Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton landing on the Injured List — but ended on a much better note with the Yankees gutting through a 3-1 win over the Tigers.

Milestone alert! This was the team’s 500th regular season win at the current Yankee Stadium. Those 500 wins are 13 more than any other team has at their home ballpark since 2009.

Gary Sanchez gave the Yankees an early lead with a solo homer in a the second inning, a monster blast that went 417 feet to straightaway center. It was his second longball in as many games, the first time he’s gone deep in back to back games since August 17-18, 2017. That’s right — he didn’t homer in consecutive games at all last year.

Brett Gardner added an insurance run in the fifth with a solo shot to right-center. The Yankees are now 26-4 since 2017 (including playoffs) when Gardy goes yardy. Gardner still has never hit a true opposite-field home run in his career; the closest he came was a blast over the wall slightly to the left of dead-center at Tropicana Field on May 11, 2015.

Domingo German was the star, pitching the definition of an “effectively wild” game with seven strikeouts, five walks, one hit and one run (unearned) allowed in five innings. Coupled with his brilliant six-inning, no-hit start last May, German delivered this #FunFact: He became the first pitcher in Yankees history with multiple starts of at least five innings and one or fewer hits allowed within his first 30 career MLB games.

(Newsday)

Terrific Tanaka, Terrible Offense
The Yankees trotted out a lineup that included three players who were supposed to be in Scranton this week, and the result was hardly a shocker — a 3-1 loss that included a pathetic offense and little support for another brilliant outing by Masahiro Tanaka.

Still, the Yankees had a chance to win, entering the ninth with the game knotted at one, because of the excellence of Tanaka. He scattered eight hits, struck out seven with no walks, and wiggled out of a few tough jams in coughing up just one run over 6 2/3 innings. Combined with his awesome Opening Day start, Tanaka earned our Obscure Yankeemetric of the Series award:

He is the second Yankees pitcher ever to begin the season throwing back-to-back starts allowing no more than one earned run with five-plus strikeouts and no walks in each game (the other guy was Kevin Brown in 2004).

Tanaka filled up the strike zone, throwing 63 of his 87 pitches (72%) for strikes, and his command was stellar in netting 15 called strikes, freezing several Tigers on pitches in the middle of the plate:

Tanaka’s effort was wasted by the Yankees cold bats and a ninth inning implosion by Aroldis Chapman. While the fireballer’s velocity was up from his first two appearances of the season, it didn’t matter as his command was off and he got torched for two runs and three hits by the Tigers. We’ve seen Chapman struggle at times in pinstripes — but not to this extent.

The last time he allowed at least two runs and three hits and took the loss in a game was Sept. 7, 2012 in his first season as a closer with the Reds.

(New York Post)

Breezy day in the Bronx
The Yankees six-game season-opening homestand ended in the most miserable fashion, as they dropped the rubber game of the series to the Tigers, 2-1, and were the victims of a couple awful franchise records in doing so.

They struck out 18 times, the most ever in a nine-inning game by any Yankees team. They now have 65 strikeouts for the season, the highest total through six games in franchise history. Thirteen of those punchouts were by Tigers starter Matthew Boyd, who also limited them to just one run in 6 1/3 innings. Boyd is the first left-hander to strike out at least 13 Yankees and allow no more than one run in a regular-season game at Yankee Stadium (old or new). The only southpaw pitcher to do that in a playoff game in the Bronx was Cliff Lee in Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS.

The one of the few reasons for optimism in the Yankees disastrous 2-4 record has been their starting pitching, which has a 2.32 ERA and has given up one earned run or fewer five times. Only two other Yankee pitching staffs have begun the season with their starters allowing no more than one earned run in five of the first six games — it also happened last year and in 2002.

Overall, they’ve allowed 20 runs, the 33rd time in franchise history they’ve given up 20 or fewer runs in the first six games; twice before they also were below .500 thru six games: 1964 and 1977. The 1964 team went on win the AL pennant and lose in the World Series while the 1977 team was World Series champs.

Some more perspective (don’t jump off the cliff yet?) … This is the sixth time in the Wild Card era that the Yankees have started 2-4 or worse. The results of the previous five seasons it happened:

Missed Playoffs – 1 (2013)
Made Playoffs – 4 (2017, 2015, 2006, 1998)
Won Division – 2 (2006, 1998)
Won World Series – 1 (1998)

Four things we’ve learned about the 2019 Yankees one week into the season

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This guy’s still cool. (Elsa/Getty)

The season is six days old and already we know one thing for certain about the 2019 Yankees: They stink. The stinkiness is probably only temporarily, but yeah, they stink. Losing two of three to the Orioles (!) and Tigers (!!) at home (!!!) while scoring no more than three runs in four of the six games is pretty ugly. It’s not quite the worst possible start to the season, but it’s close.

Six games in and there are some other things we’ve learned about the 2019 Yankees beyond their apparent inability to beat bad teams at home. It can be tricky to figure out what’s real and what’s not one week into the new year. Other times the meaningful stuff can be plainly obvious. Here are four things we’ve learned about the Yankees across their first six games of the new season.

They’ve exhausted their depth

The Yankees have already had so many injuries this season that I don’t know where they’d turn next should another player go down. I really don’t. That is especially true on the position player side. CC Sabathia could be back in next week and that means Jonathan Loaisiga will be stashed in Triple-A as an up-and-down arm. Chance Adams and Joe Harvey are also shuttle candidates.

On the position player side though, geez, the Yankees are pretty much tapped out. They’ve exhausted almost all their 40-man roster depth. Adding players to the 40-man is not necessarily a problem with Didi Gregorius, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Ben Heller available as 60-day injured list candidates. I’m referring to the caliber of player in line to be called up. It ain’t good. Look at who would be the next man up with another injury:

  • Catcher: Kyle Higashioka
  • Infield: Thairo Estrada following a lost season or Gio Urshela
  • Outfield: Billy Burns?

For what it’s worth, Mark Feinsand says Estrada is being recalled to replace Troy Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki will become the 11th Yankee on the injury list later today. What if Greg Bird feels something in his ankle again? Or James Paxton or Masahiro Tanaka go on their annual two-week breather? The injury problem might get worse. Other than Tulowitzki, the guys you’d expect to get hurt haven’t gotten hurt yet.

After six games and seven days, injuries are the story of the season for the Yankees. They’ve lost core players for long stretches of time. They’ve had to call up Clint Frazier, a player deemed in need of Triple-A at-bats, and Tyler Wade, a player deemed not good enough for the Opening Day roster, and there’s not much depth remaining behind them with Triple-A Scranton. Hopefully the injuries pass and the Yankees stay afloat. Right now, we already know they’re stretched very thing.

They need outside help

This ties into the previous point. The Yankees can not sit around waiting for their injured guys to get healthy. Aaron Hicks still has not resumed baseball activities and Miguel Andujar is potentially looking at season-ending surgery. Even if he avoids the knife, Andujar’s best case scenario is being weeks away from rejoining the Yankees. Tulowitzki? Wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t see him again this year.

The last few games have shown there are only so many Mike Tauchman and Tyler Wade at-bats one team can take. Trading for an infielder already feels imperative. Someone to take over a position full-time and push Wade to the bench. Todd Frazier? Asdrubal Cabrera? Starlin Castro? There are some rental salary dump candidates sitting on the market. The Blue Jays are already trading guys (Kendrys Morales, Kevin Pillar). Maybe other teams are willing to move players.

Point is, the Yankees have been hit exceptionally hard by injuries, and many of their top position players are a long ways from returning. Sticking with the in-house replacements is a viable option, sure, but it’s not a good one. The longer the Yankees wait for their guys to return without adding help, the more likely it is they’ll tumble in the standings and face a big uphill climb later this summer. That is apparent six games into the year.

Ottavino is the Moment of Truth™ reliever

This guy’s cool too. (Jim McIsaac/Getty)

Even with bigger names and higher priced pitchers in the bullpen, it is clear the Yankees have identified Adam Ottavino as the guy they want on the mound in the game’s biggest situations. Ottavino has appeared in four of six games so far and in all four games he entered into what can be considered the highest leverage moment. A recap:

  • March 28th: Runner on second, two outs, Yankees up four in the sixth.
  • March 30th: Runner on first, two outs, Yankees down one in the sixth.
  • April 1st: Start of eighth with Nick Castellanos and Miguel Cabrera due up, Yankees up two.
  • April 2nd: Start of eighth with Castellanos and Cabrera due up, score tied.

The Yankees beat up on the Orioles pretty good on Opening Day, so that March 28th appearance wasn’t super high-leverage, but it was the only time in the game it felt like the O’s had something going. Look at those last two games though. Aaron Boone matched Ottavino up against the other team’s best hitters in the late innings of a close game. Textbook relief ace stuff.

With Dellin Betances sidelined, I assumed Zack Britton would take over the eighth inning almost by default. He’s the former shutdown closer and he signed the big contract over the winter, and the Yankees sure do love set bullpen roles. Instead, Ottavino is penciled in as the high-leverage guy, either in a mid-inning fireman role or matching up against the other team’s top hitters. The rest of the bullpen falls in place around him.

I imagine Betances will reclaim the eighth inning role once he returns and is back up to speed. When he’s right, he’s someone the Yankees can throw out there against any three hitters in a close game. That will free Ottavino up for fireman/matchup work earlier in the game. Until then, he is the interim relief ace. The team’s intentions with Ottavino are no mystery after only four appearances.

LeMahieu’s going to be just fine at third base

I had a feeling this would be the case. LeMahieu has excellent defensive tools (hands, range, arms) and he’s a smart, instinctual player. The only thing he lacks at third base is experience. Even without it, LeMahieu has looked very natural at the hot corner in the early going. He’s made good plays coming in on weak grounders and also going both right and left. It’s hard to tell he’s new to the position, isn’t it?

Andujar’s injury means LeMahieu will be The Man at third base for the foreseeable future. It’ll be at least a few weeks. Hopefully Andujar’s shoulder responds well to treatment and rehab and he can avoid season-ending surgery. Even if he does, he’s going to miss several weeks, and the Yankees have a quality third base replacement in LeMahieu. Defensively, he can more than handle it. LeMahieu’s already shown he’s an asset at the hot corner.

Tigers 2, Yankees 1: Setting a new team record for strikeouts is no way to win a ballgame

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The Yankees are six games into the 2019 season and I already can’t wait for it to be over. No, I don’t mean that, but good grief. What a miserable team the Yankees are at the moment. I’m starting to think making no discernible upgrades through free agency was a bad idea. Anyway, the Yankees lost their series finale 2-1 to the Tigers on Wednesday afternoon. Dropping two of three to the Orioles and Tigers at home is something we’ll all laugh about in September, right?

(Elsa/Getty)

Three Hits, Eighteen Strikeouts
We all hoped the 2019 Yankees would set some records coming into the season, and they set a record Wednesday afternoon. Did they ever. Eighteen strikeouts is the new franchise record for a nine-inning game. I’m not talking about the pitchers here. I mean the hitters. Yankees’ hitters struck out 18 times in a nine-inning game for the first time ever Wednesday. Only four times had the Yankees ever struck out as many as 17 times in a nine-inning game.

Here is Wednesday’s leaderboard:

  1. Three strikeouts: Gleyber Torres, Mike Tauchman
  2. Two strikeouts: DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit, Gary Sanchez, Greg Bird, Clint Frazier
  3. One strikeout: Aaron Judge, Tyler Wade
  4. No strikeouts: Troy Tulowitzki (one at-bat before getting hurt)

Mixed in with those 18 strikeouts were three (3) hits. The Yankees are fortunate two came from consecutive batters. With one out in the third, LeMahieu doubled off the left field wall and Judge followed with a loud single to right to give the Yankees a 1-0 run lead. Officially, Torres recorded a single later in that third inning. The hard-hit grounder hit Judge between second and third bases, however, resulting in an inning-ending out. Par for the course right now.

All told, the Yankees put nine runners on base Wednesday afternoon. Six of the nine reached base with two outs. The LeMahieu double and Judge single came with one out, and Voit drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning. Every other baserunner came with two outs and you’re just not going to score many runs when you have to build a rally with one out to play out. Not when you’re short on extra-base power like the Yankees are right now.

The Yankees have scored no more than three runs in four of their last five games. Obviously the injuries are a huge factor. It’s not only the injuries though. Judge is the only guy doing something each game. He hasn’t hit a homer yet, but he’s reached base multiple times in five of six games so far. LeMahieu has slapped some singles and Sanchez has run into some homers. Otherwise the non-Judge regulars haven’t done much since Opening Day.

(Elsa/Getty)

Loaisiga’s Four Innings
Jonathan Loaisiga’s first start in 2019 looked a lot like his four starts in 2018. He showed incredible raw stuff, truly top of the line stuff, but he was also prone to long counts and he couldn’t pitch deep into the game at all. Four innings on 70 pitches. The Yankees and several other teams keep their starters on strict limits early in the season. When a guy’s limit is 70 pitches, you’re not getting any length.

Loaisiga started the game with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 first inning, and he had no trouble getting through the lineup the first time. Once the lineup turned over though, the outs didn’t come quite as easily. The numbers:

  • First time through lineup: 1-for-9 with one double
  • Second time through lineup: 0-for-4 with three walks and a sacrifice fly

The Tigers were more or less overmatched the first time through the lineup. The second time around they had much more patient at-bats. Those fastballs and sliders just off the plate didn’t coax as many swings. The three walks and the sac fly came in a five-batter span in the fourth inning to give the Tigers their first run. Judge very nearly threw Nick Castellanos out at the plate on the sac fly. The throw was just a tad late. Alas.

Loaisiga’s final line: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K on 70 pitches. Eleven swings and misses on 30 swings is pretty darn good. Four of the eleven came on his first eleven pitches. So that’s four whiffs in the first eleven pitches and seven in the final 59 pitches. Seems like the more teams see Loaisiga, the better their swings. I mean, that applies to every pitcher, but especially the inexperienced ones. All things considered, Loaisiga did well as the seventh starter.

Leftovers
Chad Green took the loss when he gave up an opposite field solo home run to (checks notes) Gordon Beckham? Gordon Beckham. Didn’t even realize that dude is still playing. Green left a slider up a little too much, and Gordon parked it just above the auxiliary scoreboard in right-center. Green, Jonathan Holder, and Zack Britton combined to allow one run and two baserunners in five innings. That’s … good? Do something, offense.

In case you missed it earlier, Tulowitzki left the game with a left calf strain. Couldn’t even make it through the first homestand healthy. The Yankees had an entire offseason to replace Didi Gregorius, and they went with a guy who hadn’t played in 18 months and they weren’t comfortable playing even three straight days in April, simply because he was cheap. Great stuff.

Box Score, WPA Graph & Standings
MLB.com has the box score and video highlights, ESPN has the updated standings, and we have a Bullpen Workload page. Here’s the loss probability graph:


Source: FanGraphs

Up Next
The first road trip of the new season. Three games in Baltimore and three games in Houston. Alex Cobb (groin) will be activated off the injured list to start the home opener for the O’s on Thursday. James Paxton will be on the mound for the Yankees. That’s a 3:05pm ET start time.

Troy Tulowitzki exits today’s game with a left calf strain

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(Presswire)

7:11pm ET: Tulowitzki has what Aaron Boone called a low-grade strain, and said it is likely an injured list situation. I mean, duh. There’s no word on who the Yankees will call up just yet.

5:14pm ET: The seemingly inevitable Troy Tulowitzki injury has arrived. Tulowitzki was removed from this afternoon’s game in the fourth inning with a left calf strain, the Yankees announced. He popped up in his only at-bat and made a nice play going to his right in the second inning.

With Tulowitzki out, Gleyber Torres shifted from second base to shortstop and Tyler Wade took over at second. The Yankees have already dipped deep into their position player depth this year. Next in line for a call-up is, uh, Thairo Estrada coming off a lost season? Gio Urshela? Who knows at this point.

The Yankees say Tulowitzki is heading for tests, and, given his history, it’s safe to assume he’s going to miss some time. Calf strains usually aren’t a day-to-day thing. Most of the injuries this year have been unforeseen. Now the guy everyone expected to get hurt got hurt.